Experience The Snow Queen with open-air performances at Beaulieu this Christmas…
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Wrap up warm and immerse yourself in the classic winter tale of The Snow Queen, with festive cheer, comedy and live music in the open-air performances in the stunning setting of Beaulieu Abbey.
With performances now under way, and set to continue on selected dates until 2nd January 2023, join the London Touring Players during the Christmas period for a magical walk-around production beneath the stars. With mulled wine and mince pies to keep away the winter’s chill, let the world-class cast of West End actors lead you on a route around the Abbey ruins, as they tell Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story, as part of a heart-warming show that all the family will love.
Director Abbey Wright said: “The Snow Queen is a myth that has evolved down the centuries and it’s a wonderful quest story. Gerda, the heroine, goes on a quest to find her friend Kai, who has been kidnapped by the Snow Queen.
“The quest fits beautifully into the setting, because it’s a promenade show. So as Gerda goes off on her journey, the audience are physically going off on the journey with her. Wrap up like you’re going on a winter walk for an hour and come here, where you can have mulled wine and keep moving to keep warm.”
Tracey Ann Wood, who plays the Snow Queen, said: “There’s so much history here, you can just kind of feel it oozing out of the walls. My character is the queen of winter and she’s very elusive. She’s magical and she’s naughty, as she steals Kai at the beginning of the play and takes him on a journey.”
Myfanwy Grace, who plays Gerda, said: “Gerda is the innocent child in all of this, who goes off to rescue her best friend Kai. She’s lovable but also adventurous and she kind of grows in confidence along the way. It’s good family fun, but also nice storytelling, a really nice Christmas story.”
The performances will be taking place every day until 2nd January 2023, excluding Christmas Day, with performances taking place at 2.30pm, 4pm and 5.30pm. Please dress warmly, and wrap up as you would for a winter’s walk. Bring comfy shoes, blankets, hot drinks and umbrellas for the hour-long production.
Separate performance tickets are available to pre-book at www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/the-snow-queen.
Following the success of A Christmas Carol and Shakespeare in the Woods at Beaulieu in recent years, along with The Comedy of Errors and The Importance of Being Earnest at Furzey Gardens, the London Touring Players is going from strength to strength, as the company creates bigger and more ambitious work in beautiful settings across the New Forest.
Refreshments will be available to purchase onsite, with a pop-up café serving mulled wine and mince pies near to the performance area.
This separately charged production compliments the special Christmas experience a visit to Beaulieu offers. Separate tickets for the visitor attraction including the National Motor Museum, Palace House, Little Beaulieu and the World of Top Gear can also be pre-booked at www.beaulieu.co.uk.
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The cast are:
Tracey Ann Wood – the Snow Queen
Alex Frost – Bae the reindeer
Myfanwy Grace – Gerda (red coat)
Jack Ward – Kai (brown tunic and hat)
Rest of cast: Fiona Bruce, Analiese Emerson Guettinger, Rory Gradon, Ellen Pallant
Director – Abbey Wright
Abbey Wright trained with Alan Rickman, Danny Boyle, Michael Grandage, Jamie Lloyd, Jeremy Herrin at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden and at the National Theatre. She has since directed for the Donmar, Hampstead, the Bush and at Trafalgar Studios and the Wyndham’s in the West End. She co- wrote a new musical for the National Theatre earlier this year.
Composer and Musical Director – Simon Slater
Simon Slater has composed music for most of the theatres in the UK; a regular at the Mayflower in Southampton, his other credits include; the National Theatre, the West End, Hampstead, the Donmar, the Almeida and hundreds of theatres across the UK.
The cast’s credits
The cast’s credits include: ‘Once’ (Phoenix Theatre, West End), ‘Marvellous’, (Soho Place, West End), ‘The Full Monty’ (West End), ’3 Winters’ (National Theatre), Royal Albert Hall, BBC Proms Orchestra, Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Silent Witness’, ‘Doctors’.
